Wellness Wednesday: Fashion Revolution

So far, the posts in this series have focused on ways you can improve and maintain your own health. But your own actions – however small they may seem to you – can dramatically affect the well-being of others. So today’s Wellness Wednesday is dedicated to Fashion Revolution Day.

Two years on from the Rana Plaza collapse, workers in developing nations continue to be subjected to unacceptable labour conditions (overly long shifts, poor ventilation, beatings by supervisors, being locked in to factories, and the list goes on) to churn out fashion for the more fortunate. Fashion Revolution Day is a movement that anyone can join to demand supply chain transparency and fair treatment of garment workers such as these.

In the spirit of Fashion Revolution Day and to provide an image for this post and my other social media accounts, I went through my wardrobe to try to find a garment that actually had a readable label in it. As I make so many of my own clothes, or they are from op shops and therefore have old, faded labels, it was a challenge, but I managed to find this Target jumper that I bought last year at the Salvos – you can see the label because I’m wearing the jumper inside out and back to front. It turns out Target has committed to transparency, and scored a B- in the Australian Fashion Report, but (according to that report) don’t seem to have committed to paying workers a living wage. Definitely room for improvement – which is unfortunately the case for just about every other Australian label.

So if you’ve got a few minutes to spare, join the revolution by turning whatever you’re wearing inside out, snap a selfie showing the label and ask that brand “who made my clothes?” over Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or whichever social media you follow.

Imagine how much healthier (mentally, physically and financially) the people who make our clothes could be if we all joined the Fashion Revolution!